Phantesea
by MeaganK0814
Summary: Explore the life of Melissa Burton as she discovers she is the creator of a magical land called Samaria. When she accidentally pulls some of the characters through...it becomes a bit of a...problem. Read it to figure out what it is and how she solves it.
1. Chapter 1

**The more reviews you write then the longer my chapters will be. I like a little constructive criticism as a new author but please, not so harsh. A little background information? Well you will learn more about me as I write and I discover what my fans are like if I have any, hopefully I will. Enjoy!**

**Melissa**

My life was all glitz and glamour. I had everything I ever wanted, no problems or worries. My life was perfect. I was perfect. As a matter of fact, my biggest fear was that the shoe store would run out of its newest style of "Von Juan" flats. How stupid I was…

Sunshine on my eyelids awoke me from the turning point of my life. It started out as a nice dream but the scene changed and now I was surrounded by trees, mud and sticks. Ew. Well it's my dream, I thought simply, so I can change it. I closed my eyes and focused on the mall. That always made me feel better and SURELY would improve the situation. The shoes, racks of designer clothes and cute Italian- my thinking was interrupted by a sigh. I turned around to look with a glare.

My glare faded and turned into a look of pity as I saw whom it was directed at. There was a boy, maybe seventeen, huddled over on the ground. His green eyes looked for…I don't know. Something. His hair was medium brown. This boy looked about…oh…maybe fifteen years old? Judging by the looks of it, it had never seen a comb. There were bruises and scrapes all over him. He looked strong though, but if he was so strong why was he so beat up? Strong in his features, weak in his eyes.

Just then a beautiful girl came dashing through the trees. She dropped to her knees beside the boy. Her hair was blonde with brown undertones and tan skin. Her eyebrows were perfectly shaped but didn't look waxed. A models look. This girl's deep blue eyes scanned the forest. She sensed danger and her jaw tensed. She looked about sixteen years old. Same age as me then.

"How are you Henry?" She asked him in a wind chime voice. While she spoke she opened a brown frayed sack containing bread and corn. Additionally it had some berries and vegetables inside.

"Fine, I guess." Henry mumbled, avoiding her eyes and looking at the ground.

She raised one perfect eyebrow and handed him the food.

He shook his head. "Demetra, no. Save it for yourself." Henry looked her straight in the eye, trying to be persuasive. Instead it had the opposite effect. She got more determined.

"You need it more than I do though."

"Perhaps, but I am not the one who needs saved. You know as well as I do that your strength is more important than mine." Henry blushed but tilted his head so the light did not show it as easily.

Demetra's features got cold. She glared at him but did not say a word and handed him the food. He took it, muttering a, "Thanks." Even though he looked grouchy and angry about it in his features, his eyes told more. Henry was thankful of his friend's persistence and gratefully started eating.

This wasn't something I needed to see. Slowly, I started backing up. Forgetting I was in the woods, a twig snapped. "Crap!" I thought to myself. Surely they heard that in the dim silence that stretched around the forest. If I was going down, I would go down with a fight. I lifted my head, took a deep, calming breath and strode out to meet them.

Both of them were standing up, which I had expected but what I had not expected was for Henry to be crouched in a defense position BEHIND Demetra with a knife. Wasn't it the other way around? Wasn't she supposed to be behind him? Demetra was calm in the face but her eyes were cold and unforgiving. She had one palm extended to me, in my head I laughed. Yes, a hand would protect them. Luckily, I'm no enemy.

"Um, hey guys. My name is -" My words were cut off by surprise.

"Extremus!" Demetra shouted. A red ball of light shot out of her palm. I took a step back and fell. This was NOT a good dream. First I get caught eavesdropping, Second I trip over my feet escaping from this light ball and thirdly I am shot with the red ball of light, being absorbed into darkness.

Expecting to wake up in my own bed, like a regular dream happens, I smile. A bird chirped in the background. Probably a cardinal, those were common in our area. Running water? Please be the shower. Please, Please, Please! A voice in the background…the top floor of our house was mine. We were a rich family and so we had the money for that. Nobody came up there though, not unless they wanted me. I knew I was still in my dream and frowned.

"Is it her?" A male voice said, probably Henry.

"No. No it can't be!" Demetra said. This time with more confidence: "No it's not and I'm certain of that."

"You sure?" Henry asked.

"Well if she _was,"_ Demetra implied, "then she would have remembered how to approach a glysphan right, instead of barreling through the woods."

"Ha-ha, yeah you better hope not. You shot her D! Besides, you have been nothing but sour since you saw her. Chill out. Give her credit, it's been two hundred years. She got through though didn't she?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Demetra said very rudely.

` What were they talking about? They were being too mysterious and I NEEDED to know. I faked a yawn, bunched up my forehead and sat up. I did my best to look confused.

Wow! Wherever I was it was beautiful. We were in a field. The grass was bright green, fresh but wild. There were flowers, bees and butterflies. Gee, I sure hoped this was a dream I would remembered. Shot or not, speaking of, my shoulder was sore; this was my kind of place.

The sky was neon blue and it had pink weaving through. There was a close up view of a planet above us. _Dimension one…_ What? Weird. Where did that come from? There was a stream with water so clear you could see every pebble, and every spot where fish had brushed against the side.

"Natural, not man made." Henry said, noticing my fascination. I smiled.

"I know that yawn was fake and I know you were listening to our conversation. Care to find out what it means? Too bad, keep guessing." Demetra spoke.

When I tried to object to listening in she said, "Oh please, you may be able to fool some people but not. Me." Her eyes grew cold again. Henry placed a hand on her arm to calm her down but she slapped it away. The angrier she got, the greener her eyes became. Now, instead of blue with green weaving they were a deep green with threads of blue. My eyes widened in surprise. "She needs woke up. Go slap her Henry, I'm sure that would do it. You're so strong."

"Me? No D, I'm not going to hit a girl. I will not do your dirty work. Yes, you have people waiting on your hand and foot at the castle but I'm not." Castle? Was she like, royalty or something?

"Fine, I will. As easy as putting out the trash." She got an evil glint in her eye. What happened to the sweet girl taking Henry food? Apparently she was away because THAT Demetra wouldn't harm a fly.

"Demetra stop! You're going to regret this later so just leave. Her. Be." Henry said. He got between us and I was grateful to his loyalty to someone who has brought him so much trouble.

What did I get myself into? I may not be a princess like her, but I didn't have to put up with her baggage. "Stop! Turn around and do NOT lay a hand on me or so be it I'll-" Once again my words were cut off by her again by shock. She had turned around and put her hands behind her back. She walked back about twenty feet. When she turned around again to face me, her mouth was dropped in an O shape with a glare in her eyes. Behind it there was humiliation.

"It is you…" Henry whispered. He cleared his throat and spoke louder. "Welcome home. What did you say your name was?"

Demetra said something unintelligent in response to Henry wondering what my name was but as hard as it was to take my eyes off her form, I looked him in the eye and said, "Melissa .Melissa Burton." He smiled.

"Well, Melissa. Every two hundred years you return to help Samaria, this amazing place you created about three lives ago. If you haven't added that up that is about six hundred years ago. " Henry looked to Demetra for assistance but she just shook her head.

I pressed my lips together to prevent a smile but the corners of my mouth still turned up. They knew though. They knew I was about to start laughing and Demetra mouthed an, "I told ya so!" at Henry. How immature…All Henry did was roll his eyes.

Not REALLY knowing what to say, I decided on, "I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry. This is a _dream _and I am in charge. For entertainment purposed I will play along. So I'm the 'creator' ok? What do you need?"

Being a smart ass Henry replied with, "Ok, Ok. For entertainment purposes I will tell you that this 'dream' is called Samaria. The people in Samaria are all unique and Demetra here is the princess of it all. Her mother, Jillian is the Queen and her father Gerald is King."

"That explains her attitude." I said under my breath

"What?" Demetra asked

"Nothing."

"Henry what did she say?" Demetra was getting paranoid.

"I didn't hear…" He said to her

"Henry if you don't tell me right this moment what she said I will never speak to you again!" Demetra said very anxious

Henry rolled his eyes and said, "Drama Queen." I smiled at him. He obviously didn't know what I said. He was even farther from me then Demetra was now and nobody could hear that far. Here though, hadn't they said everyone had something strange about them? Maybe he could hear well. It didn't matter.

"As you very well know, not everyone in life is good." His eyes traveled to Demetra for one brief moment. I wouldn't have seen it if I wasn't on edge. "One man, named Daniel Johnson has been causing a problem, you could say. He want's to take over Samaria and is in league with the darkness. We need him gone. We need your help."

"Well now how would I do that? If everyone has something special about them and I'm totally normal how do I stand a chance against them? I would be killed along with everyone else. I'm a mortal, if you haven't forgot."

"Who said anything about mortals and immortality?" Henry said with a smile.

"See that's just it," Demetra cut in. I may have forbid her to touch me, but I didn't take away her right of speech. "If you're the creators your powers beat all of the dark side together if you have enough people on your side. I'm skeptic about you though. A normal person would be interested because they have no idea of the danger. You fall there. But on the other hand a person with powers or special abilities like us would have the instinct to run. You are like…uncaring. You are interested but you would rather be somewhere else."

I didn't say anything. What could I? There were two crazy people rambling on about magic powers and a magical world where princesses still existed. The closest I have come to royalty is being Queen of my school. I smile to myself. Most people don't like school but when everyone wants to be you, to be your friend or even just sit by you at lunch it is a very nice place.

"Are you a dream walker?" Henry asked.

"A what?"

"A dream walker. It's someone who, whatever happens in their dreams-"

"Say I slapped you like I wanted to, then when you woke up you would have the mark of a slap on your face or arm or whatnot. If you really are a dream walker then when you wake up your shoulder will hurt from getting hit with my spell. Sorry." Demetra told me. Her sorry was fake so I ignored it but did that mean that if I died in a dream I would be dead for good? Wow I was going to need to be more careful if it was true. I noticed that sometime in the last ten minutes we had been talking Demetra's eyes had turned blue again. That was so weird!

"Well I wouldn't know if I am one or not, I never really looked…" I told them with a shrug. Wow.

Henry smiled softly. "That's ok. You might not believe us now but whenever it is time, you will. One day you will. Today just isn't that day."

Wow he was being so serious! Chill out dude! It's a dream. Peoples used to say I had a vivid imagination, that was to be expected…of a seven year old, but I was sixteen and people still told me that. Goes to show what my dreams are like. I high imagination led to crazy dreams. A whisper in the back of my mind said otherwise. It was something I would have to deal with.

"No. No!" Henry said. His eyes widened.

"What!" I asked back, half question, half demand.

"You're fading! You can't leave now! We need you!" Henry was irritated now.

"Melissa…" A familiar voice said above everything else

Fading? I looked down at myself. Now I was never much of an artist, but judging by my appearance you would think I was a pro. I looked like a pixilation and pieces of me were drifting away. Freaky…

"Melissa honey, wake up. Time to wake up Melissa." The voice said again.

Mom? What was she doing in my dream? How strange… The funny thing was that I could only hear her. I couldn't see her anywhere. Her voice came from the clouds, past the planet and the beautiful sky. Henry grabbed my arm and held on to Demetra. They tried to keep me there but failed.

That's where we started out. Sunshine on my eyelids. When opened them to reveal my bedroom, I did not like what I saw. Three sets of eyes were looking down on me. My mother was unaware of the other two. That very moment, my life changed forever. Oh joy…


	2. Chapter 2

How could my mom not see them? They were RIGHT THERE! She didn't even glance at them. Wait, It's a Saturday right? Why is she getting me up? This day is already going so weird!

"Mom, what?" I asked sleepily. My shoulder was throbbing. Maybe I slept on it wrong. I yawned.

"Honey, did you forget? You told Mr. Wilson you would take him breakfast this morning."

"Ugh Ok fine! He probably forgot anyways, and mom? Look to your right." I braced myself for her to start yelling at me.

"New shirt?" She questioned

"What? No. No I mean, don't you see my company?"

"Are you feeling okay?" She looked at me with a skeptical eye.

** "**Never mind. Just forget it." I sighed with frustration

She shrugged and walked out of the room yelling, "10 MINUTES!" I looked back to Henry and Demetra. Demetra paused for a second before breaking out in a fit of giggles. Henry kicked her leg and said, "Surprise!"

"What happened? Why are you here?"

"Remember when you started fading and we grabbed you? Yeah well, you're a dream walker and you accidently pulled us through." Henry gave me an apologetic smile and held out his hands.

There was something different about them…Henry didn't look bruised up, he looked like a really strong teenage boy. Demetra looked total different. You could still tell it was her by the way her facial expressions were and how her eyes scanned you. Her hair looked…brown? Demetra's eyes were a bluish brown. Kind of like, brown eyes with a little blue mixed in. I guess that was a permanent feature.

"Never mind how you got here, why do you look different?"

"Huh?" Demetra's eyes widened and she ran to my mirror, her straight brown hair flowing after her. She smiled and said, "Nice! Henry I think I did a good job don't you?"

"Sure, sure." He mumbled then looked to me to explain. "It's like a…defense type of thing, you could say. When power surges we can grab onto it and change. She likes to switch around a lot, that's D for you, never completely satisfied. Me? I prefer to get rid of the bruises and cuts. I think I look a lot better right now don't you?" He flashed a white smile

My mouth dropped. "So you just, switch looks whenever you're like…threatened or something? That's so weird. But then again…never mind we can talk later I have to get ready to take old Mr. Wilson his breakfast. The guy is a nut but my mom thinks he is just a forgetful old man. Whatever right?" I grabbed some clothes and went into my bathroom to get ready. Putting my head in my hands I let out a muffled scream. I was going to turn out like Mr. Wilson if I kept this up!

Demetra let out a shocked yelp. I ran back out the door to my room and hissed, "What?" Her lip quivered and she pointed at Stanley. Stanley was the house ghost. He used to live here and chose to stay because he wanted to make sure everyone took care of his house. I tried to convince him to cross over but he wouldn't hear it. Now I just have to put up with it. In case you're wondering, yes I see and can talk to ghosts.

"Oh. My. God! You are such a diva!" I spat at Demetra

"One of my best qualities." She whispered, still staring wide eyed at Stanley.

"Chill, it's Stanley. He died here in 1909. Yes he is a ghost. Make friends, you will be seeing a lot of each other." I started to turn when Henry yelled, "Cool you're a necromancer too? Neat!"

"I'm not a necromancer you moron! I can't raise the dead I can only talk to them. I'm a mediator. Sheesh. Stanley, Henry and Demetra. Henry and Demetra, meet Stanley."

"Hello." Stanley said. Clearly he still thought he owned the place. I rolled my eyes.

They both just stood there speechless so I said, "Make friends!" When I left the room to go back into the bathroom to get ready they were all three still silent, though Stanley was giving them a dirty look. I snorted.

Today I wore my dark blue denim skinny jeans and a tight fitting blue tank top and a black leather jacket. A one hand glove, black leather of course brought out everything and tied it together, like the black embroidered pattern that was on my tank top. I slipped on my black faux boots and had the perfect outfit.

After running a brush through my hair and seeing my red undertones glinting in the sun through my silky brown hair I smiled. Demetra might be pretty but so was I. We were close in age and that meant competition. That was ok, I win at everything. She reminded me of someone though, me. We both squinted our noses when we were confused. We both had that evil glint in our eye when we were annoyed and we both had big egos.

I blinked my blue eyes, one of my best features. They were light blue with a dark blue band around the perimeter of my irises and through the light blue weaved almost a white. They changed shades daily. Some days they were blue with green weaves and others they were blue with brown weaves. My favorite was the green weaves. It brought out my tan complexion.

After brushing my teeth I came out into my room again. They were both sitting on my bed. "Where to now boss?" Henry said. My eye brows furrowed as I said, "Uh, the kitchen? And don't call me boss its…weird."

They shuffled after me down the spiral staircase. Our house was a Victorian from the late 1800's. It was part of the historic society houses so we had to have it set up like it would have been then. Not old furniture, just old LOOKING. It wasn't meant for children but it was one of my parent's prized possessions so my sister and I had to make it work.

I picked up the box of food and his juice box and started walking towards the door. My little sister Nikolai got in my path. "Good mowning Mewissa! Aw you going to Miwsta Wiwson's today? Tew him I said Hewwo! Who aw yow fwends?" She pointed to Demetra while looking at Henry. They both moved over to see if she was pointing at someone behind them. Both her eyes and finger traveled with them. "Whats yow name?" She asked them

"Um, call me Henry and that's Demetra." He said. "She thinks she's a princess." He whispered to her nodding at Demetra who shot him the death glare.

"Hi." She said. They both looked at me. They were probably as confused as I was.

"Nikky they can play with you later. Right now we have to get to Mr. Wilson's house and yes I will tell him you said hi." I walked out the door with them right behind me. They were already acting as pests….great.

We walked three doors down and up the stairs into the house that belonged to Mr. Wilson. I rang the door bell and knocked just to be sure he heard me. After what seemed like an eternity (which it very well could have been) he opened the door and smiled at me with a wide grin. His hair was crazy looking, an Einstein look for sure. His green eyes shined and stuck out against the rest of his dull features.

"Melissy! What did you bring me today?" He looked at me expectantly, admiring the box and reaching for the orange juice. I sighed and handed it to him.

"Its sausage and pancakes. Can I come in?" I didn't wait for an answer; I just strolled right in and turned on the TV. Eyewitness news was on. Just before I flipped the channel I heard this voice coming from Cynthia Parker's voice.

"Breaking news! Another child gone missing! His name is Lance Cooper and he is tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. He looks strong and went missing from his home at 11:07 pm. If you see this boy call 555-9029. His parents are willing to offer a reward for the person who returns this boy!" Cynthia said uncaringly

"Ple-ease if you s-s-see hi-him the-n wou-would yo-you brin-ng m-mm-my ba-baby ho-ho-home!" It was more of a demand then a question that the women who I assumed was his mother sobbed. "He-he mi-might b-be a lit-little stron-strong fo-for hi-his age bu-but he…he wou-would NEVER hur-hurt any-anyone on pu-pu-pu-purpose I sw-swear!"

Lots of children from all over America were going missing and nobody knew why. Personally I think that you have to know all the wrong people to have something like that happen to you. Not my problem, I thought to myself, if I see him I will call, but I'm not going searching for some teenage boy that went missing. Sighing to myself I changed it to ghost hunters. These people thought they were the real deal but everything they caught was all wrong. Idiots.

Mr. Wilson was talking to someone, I turned around and saw Demetra laughing and Henry looking the other way smiling. Mr. Wilson stood there looking very serious with only a small smile tugging at his mouth. Could he see them too? Well no, he was probably talking to himself and they found it funny. Nothing to be concerned about. That's what I thought, but when he held the door open for them, all of them, he closed it with a nod. How crazy was Mr. Wilson really?

He sat across the room from me at a small table eating his food. Never taking his eyes off me. It was…creepy. His eyes went behind me to where I assumed Henry and Demetra were standing. They lingered for a second before he noticed me watching and flicked them to a vase on the other side of me. When I paid attention though, he kept glancing at them. After clearing his thought he said in a strained voice, "How are you Melissa, really?"

What could I say? What SHOULD I say? Do I tell him the truth, or do I pretend I'm a clueless teenage girl? "I'm…okay." He raised an eyebrow.

"Are you? Really?" He knew. He was talking to me, but not directly. He was looking back at them while he spoke.

I sighed. "Confused." He chuckled and said, "I know how you feel." OH NO! I WAS GOING TO TURN OUT LIKE HIM! I looked towards the door. 13 steps away…I think I could beat him there…though he was closer. He had the upper hand…I better stay put.

"My little sister can see them too. Why is that? Is it just us three or is it like…a lot of people?"

"Well…there are others like us, the ones who see the ones called, "Glysphans."I said the name over in my mind and looked at him. "They call the people like us the Seers. Then there are the one who see the future, the Psychics. There are the ones with the enhanced abilities; those people don't really have a name. There are the mediators and necromancers," I grimaced. "The only difference between the two is that one can raise the dead the other can't." I mentally snorted. "There are the witches and warlocks. Believe it or not there are vampires and werewolves. Most fairy tales came from somewhere. Like fairies.

"Are there others like the Glysphans?" I asked curiously.

"There is a legend…" his eyes showed an internal conflict. How much to tell me. "The aceheard. It's a legend of these four beings that were created by a…witch or psychic. I don't know witch, someone powerful. Anyways, they were created. Jacob, Chris, Kate and Drew. Only, Drew's location is unknown. So are the others, but mostly Drew. There are like super hero's but not to our world, to the other ones, like Dimensions one, two and Samaria." I choked. He raised an eyebrow and continued. "They are supposed to keep peace and balance to the universe. If ours is in need of help, they will come and protect us too."

"They sound great!" I said to him. He just laughed a short laugh.

"Sometimes." He said that guarded. This whole time Henry and Demetra just sat there. Once he started talking about the aceheard Demetra stiffened and Henry put his hand on hers. His eyebrows furrowed and he smiled a sad smile and them.

"Are there others? Since there are the good ones are there bad ones too then?"

"Ah, the most important question so far…yes. Yes there are the ones in league with the darkness. The ones who seek to destroy the aceheard. There are some Glysphans, there are the demons and then…then there is the royal family. They act as…peace keepers to those who mind their own business, to the naive ones. But actually they are like dictators. They are like…the leaders of the darkness. As long as their country, Samaria, is safe then they lead. The whole world could go up in flames and it would be beautiful in Samaria because that is the deal." Demetra stiffened and whispered, "You don't know that."

"Don't I though?" His eyes pierced hers and she looked away, shrugging into Henry's shoulder.

Henry glared at him and said, "Nobody knows the whole story James." Mr. Wilson's first name was James? I never knew that!

The room got quiet so I said, "And what happens if the aceheard are destroyed?"

"All hell breaks loose." He said gravely. Demetra's jaw tightened and Henry tensed up. Mr. Wilson looked at the clock. "Believe it or not, Melissa, but I actually have somewhere to be this fine morning. We will be in touch." He said this to me, and only me. He made it very clear that Henry and Demetra were not.

I had one more question pressing at me. "Mr. Wilson?" He turned to look at me. "What are YOU? And what am I?" My voice broke on the last word.

"Let's see if you can figure out what I am, as for you? Only time will tell."

"Mr. Wilson?" I said one last time. He looked at me again with an impatient grin. "Thank you." He smiled at me and closed the door behind us, all of us. He got in his Buick and drove off. Demetra let out a noise sounding disturbingly like a growl and Henry said, "Demetra!" and she shut up, glaring towards the directing he drove off. I turned to them and said again, "We will talk later." I headed back to my house and made them walk in front. I would stay in the back from now on, because I didn't trust them anymore. It was sad but true, and Demetra was raising the hair on my neck.


	3. Chapter 3

It was Sunday night. Henry and Demetra had stayed home with Stanley. I was going to meet some of my friends, Rae- a spunky red head who loved the outdoors. Then there was Jamie, a calm and reserved girl with brown wavy hair and brown eyes to match. Here we sat, knee to knee in a circle, just as we had so often as children. We met the park on the grass under the moonlight. Rae was in love with the earth, she felt safe. I was in love with the night and felt the comfort of the moonlight. As dark as it was, I was confident you could see my blue eyes clearly, just as I could see Rae's. Jamie's however, had an eerie glint and appeared black.

It wasn't often we met up in the dark like this, only on important occasions or when someone had something important to tell the others. Surprisingly, it wasn't I who called the meeting, nobody had. We had all gone for a walk and had bumped into each other. Literally. None of us talked, we all sat there and looked from one another questioningly. Each one of us held a secret, and each one of us looked guilty.

As the wind lashed my pony tail in my face I sat, "It's a bit windy, don't you think guys?" I spit a strand of hair out of my mouth

"Yeah it can stop now." Rae said absent mindedly.

The wind dyed down and I looked to Rae in surprise. She hadn't noticed a thing and was biting her lip, deep in thought. She opened her mouth to say something but thought again and closed it frowning. A few minutes had passed and she opened her mouth again, "What do yall think brought us here?"

Breaking the tension I said, "Restless feet!" Smiling wide at her

She glared at me. "I'm serious! Guys, I need to tell you something and…I don't know how you're going to take it" She took a deep breath and said in one breath really fast, "I can sometimes control the wind and read people's emotions, sometimes I get visions and I think I have an affinity with the earth. My senses are enhanced." She took a big breath to fill her lungs and looked up again smiling slyly, "Surprise!"

Jamie squeaked and jumped to the side, hugging Rae so tight she muttered, "Air!" Jamie squealed, "Oh Rae I love you so much!" She looked at Rae and then over to me saying, "Well, I guess I better through this out there: There are these magical peace holder people with like…super powers and stuff and they are here to help! They are called the aceheard." She started bobbin around.

Both of them looked at me, waiting for a confession. "I see ghosts." I offered. Now wasn't the time to tell them about Henry and Demetra. Rae raised her eyebrows. "Uh…maybe I have an affinity with the night? Animals for sure."

Jamie clapped, she always saw the bright side in things. I smiled at her. "So when do we get to meet these people?" Rae asked

Jamie smiled, "Whenever you want!"

Rae being impatient said, "Tomorrow night. I would prefer the morning but…I'm going to be patient and say tomorrow night." I snorted. One night WAS patient for her. She always wanted action and resting was a mistake. That was my Rae, always on the go. Jamie nodded in an affirmative okay.

We all hugged and went separate ways. I yelled, "See you at school tomorrow!"

Jamie hopped on her bike and rode away. Rae got up and stared at me. I didn't want to seem shifty so I gave her a hug and walked away. I stopped to turn around and see if she was still watching me. She wasn't, she was already running the other way. She didn't want a car like most teenagers. She preferred to run. I, on the other hand, hopped in my Truck and drove home.

I unlocked the door quietly, not turning on any lights. I would see okay without them. Fingering my way across the hall and up the stairs I got to my room successfully, tripping only over Nikky's doll that had put itself on my way on the stairs. When I opened the door I heard arguing.

"You sleep downstairs on the couch! I get the guest bed, I was here first!" Stanley yelled

"Hey what happened to hospitality?" Demetra growled. Henry was just sitting on my bed with his head in his hands saying, "Shut up, shut up, shut up…" over and over again. I had to give him credit.

"WHAT HOSPITALITY? You barged on in! Is that hospitable? Is that worth my respect and sorrow? NO!" Stanley was yelling so loud his empty veins bulged out of his neck. I was suddenly thankful that my sister couldn't hear him, but she could hear Henry and Demetra.

"Shush!" I whispered violently. "How about this? You all SHARE the guest room! It's a bunk bed you idiots!"

"I'm not sharing a bed with Henry!" Demetra yelled

"Fine than Henry and Stanley will share."

Both of them started yelling about that. I sighed and grabbed my blankets and one of my two pillows. I said, "I'm sleeping on the couch. The boys are in the guest room. Demetra you sleep in my room. Figure something out! I'm not doing this again." I gave them, all three of them, the death glare. Silently I exited the room.

The next day when I woke up it was early. Like…5 o'clock early. Nobody else was up so I just laid there. What had I gotten myself into? Let's see…In the past day I had discovered a magical land called Samaria, learned my friends had magic powers, my old nut job neighbor turned out to be perfectly sane and ALSO had powers. There were other places we didn't know about (like the dimensions) and more people like the "Glysphans," the royal family was out to get the good guys followers and my little sister was in on it. Does that cover it? Not even close.

Why did Demetra get aggressive when Mr. Wilson started talking about the royal family and the aceheard? She had a weird glint in her eyes and put me on edge. Then there was Henry and he was absolutely strange but he didn't put me on edge like Demetra did. What was I going to tell my friends? Should I show them? Tell them? If Demetra was bad than I would just put them in danger. Not an option. If they were going to find out about them I was going to have to tell them. Not show them. I would consider it if I knew what their deal was but I didn't.

I hear a shuffle on the stairs. Stanley was hovering on the fourth stair, debating whether to come further down or not. He walked the remaining steps and walked up to me frowning. In case you're wondering, yes ghosts sleep. They are like the same as a regular living person but not as visible. Some get confused and don't know they are dead. Stanley was like that and it took a while but he isn't confused anymore. We can't figure out why he hasn't crossed over. I think it's because he doesn't really want to.

"Yes?" I asked irritably

"Sorry Mel." He said looking down

I sighed. "Stanley I don't know what happened! I am so confused and you know that Mr. Wilson guy? Well I need to tell you about him." His eyebrows furrowed as I told him more and more of the story.

"That's weird. You know though? When Rae and Jamie would come over they had different auras than the rest of your friends."

"Was there anyone else that had different auras?" If there were I needed to talk to them

"No. One day when I followed you to school though there was a guy in your class…what was his name? Garry? Jerry?" He thought hard

"Garret?" Oh my god! Garret was such a loser! I was going to have to meet up with him after school because I couldn't BARE to have people see me with him.

"Yes! That's the one. Garret." He repeated.

"Melissa dear, who are you talking to?" My mom came down the stairs rubbing her eyes.

I pulled my phone out of my sweat pants pockets and slammed it shut, shoving it back in. "Oh I was just on the phone!"

"With who?" She raised an eyebrow

I ran my hand through my long brown hair saying, "Uh, Jordan." Jordan was my two year boyfriend, ever loyal, sweet and charming. He looked like a god! I smiled and bit my lip.

"What did he want? He called so early!" Glancing at the clock I saw 5:45 AM on the clock. Man!

"He was going for a job interview soon and I told him to call me last night before he left. It's in Topeka so it's about a two hour drive. I just wanted to wish him luck." I smiled. My lying, or my preferred word: Acting, was infallible. After years of experience I was a pro. Jordan had his interview last week. See, I didn't lie about big things, just things that would get me in trouble. Bad grade? "Oh momma! You need to understand! I had to make up a test in someone else's class and was only there for the last five minutes of class! It wasn't MY fault!" Worked like a charm!

"Couldn't you talk to him afterwards?" She was mad. Oh well!

"No." I laughed. "No mom because if I talked to him after his interview I couldn't wish him luck and then if he didn't get it than it could be my fault! Wouldn't that be terrible?" Making my eyes look so innocent she gave up and smiled. She looked past my head to see the living room with a bed made up on it.

"Honey why did you sleep on the couch?" Her voice was rising in anger

"Quiet mom, shhh," I said to her. I furrowed my eyebrows and shook my head at her. "I was in my room but someone got in a fight under my window. I didn't want to hear it and it was keeping me up so I came down here. If you want me to stay next time then-"

"No…no its fine. You should have came and gotten me though."

"I didn't want to wake you, you have work today and I have school. Besides, I slept better down here anyways." I frowned then said, "I was only trying to be considerate. I'm sorry momma." I looked down and my feet making a face of shame

She put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Well thank you. Do you want me to drive you in to school late? I can if you want. Or you can just get ready now then go pick up Jamie and Rae so they don't have to ride the bus. Your choice."

Oh god she wanted to drive me…that would be so embarrassing considering that I had my own car. Pass! "Oh no thank you mom, really! I'm fine. Besides, they will get tormented by the wanna be's if I don't drive. It would be me saving their lives. You can't deny me that right."I winked at her and she laughed

"Ok well in that case start getting ready." She gave me a hug and went back to bed. After she was safely up the stairs I started laughing. I was getting better and better at my uh…acting. Stanley smirked and shook his head.

"You're unbelievable Melissa." He laughed. I smiled and elbowed him in the ribs. I made my way up the stairs turning on the TV, on low of course, for Stanley. He didn't want to miss a beat of anything that happened. Hence, he was glued to the TV.

When I opened my door Demetra was sleeping. Careful not to wake her up I grabbed my clothes and went back downstairs to get dressed. I opened the bathroom door and changed. Today I was wearing my light blue skinny jeans with the black boots that were just a little below my knee and a white tank top with a black half jacked over it. I had on my necklace that had white and black chains weaving together and of course, my silver locket was under my shirt.

A few years ago my dad gave me a silver heart locket. On the inside, instead of a picture like most lockets, it said, "Condemned to the night," I had no clue what it meant but within two months he mysteriously disappeared. It's been almost three years and not a day goes by that I don't think about him, my mom thinks he left us. My sister thinks he is on a business trip. I don't know what to think. My father was a very good, decent man and he stuck to his promises. So where was he?

My eyes were watering now so I had to wait on the makeup. I could come back to it in a few minutes. I didn't really need it, but it made my features sharper and more defined so I did. I brushed my hair and put in a black fake highlight. I wore a black French hat and here I was. Melissa Burton, the trend setter. My eyes stopped watering now, they were filled with pride. I could put on my make up now and used the smoky look to highlight the hat. Hats weren't allowed in school, but I was an exception. I had the money to bribe and the looks to charm so getting my way was easy.

After eating breakfast and brushing my teeth I started my truck. It was a light blue Ford F150 with tinted windows so dark they looked black. I drove a few blocks to Rae's house and we drove in silence to Jamie. Once she got in the silence broke.

"Oh guys! I have to tell you! Jake said that he was tracking yesterday and he came upon the smell of one of the members of the royal family! He couldn't track it though because it was him alone but with the right training and preparation he can get one of his friends and they can go catch it and destroy it! Isn't that great? One less bad guy!" She smiled wide at us. My hands tightened on the wheel. I didn't say anything, but Rae did.

"Yeah, that's good. Jake was one of the uh…aceheard? Right?" She asked raising an eyebrow. Jamie nodded. "Well then he can tell me about it tonight." Rae smiled at Jamie then looked at me with a concerned face.

"What's wrong Melissa?"

"Huh? Nothing." Normally I would have lied but they were my best friends and I couldn't really. But I also couldn't tell them the truth. So I settled for nothing, everyone said that.

"Yes there is I feel it. You are radiating BADLY. So talk." She glared at me now. I still said, "Nothing. I'm fine."

"Boy problems?" Jamie asked

"Yeah." I told her

"No." Rae said.

I sighed, "Rae you can be such a pest sometimes, do you know that? I will show you later. Better?"

"A little." She kept glaring at me but I just ignored her.

"I almost forgot! Jake found one of his old friends and he is staying with us now!" Jamie chirped in. "His name is Nobody but you can call him Lee because Nobody can get confusing for people. You know?" She looked to both of us

"Yes Jamie I do know since I know plenty of Nobody's." Rae said sarcastically. I snorted. Jamie didn't recognize the jab and started laughing. "Funny!" She gasped. I sighed again.

"So what about Lee?" I asked

"Oh! Well he is like, a fairy!" She said. "Isn't that cool?"

"That depends. Is he little bitty like Tinkerbelle?" I asked jokingly

"No stupid! He is normal size. That's what being in this world did to him."

"Oh…duh!" I said, I looked at her and rolled my eyes

We pulled into the school lot and all got out. Immediately we were swarmed by friends, wanna be's, nerds, jocks, freshmen and teachers telling us to clear out. I smiled and talked to everyone like I was normal. That was routine. It had worked and now I was popular. Together, Rae and Jamie and I were the queens of the school. We decided who was in and who was out. Everyone admired us. Looking through the crowd of faces I finally caught Jordan's. I pushed my way through to him and smiled up at him.

Jordan was the quarterback of the football team and was expected to rise to success. You would think he would cave under pressure but the attention made him stronger. He pulled me down in a kiss and said, "Hi."

I pulled away and said, "Don't come over today my mom thinks you are in an interview for that place you went to the other day in Topeka." I ran my hand through my hair and said, "Oops!"

He just laughed and said, "Got it chief!" He was the best. He hugged me and, holding holding hands, we parted from the crowd into the building. Everything was going to be ok. I hoped.


	4. Chapter 4

**Melissa**

Rae, Jamie and I had all agreed that tonight Jamie would bring the aceheard and Lee and I would bring Demetra. Stanley and Henry were being forced by me to go somewhere and learn to get along. On the drive to the park Demetra was a little chatty, I think she was nervous. She hadn't wanted to come without Henry but I told her it was necessary because Henry and Stanley had gotten in a fight earlier that day and if they kept that up then they weren't leaving the house ever again!

"Um, so sorry about the other day." She muttered. I think this was real!

"Well considering that since we have gotten into this mess it has been Henry who is, surprisingly, getting on my nerves, and not you like in…Samaria? That you should come."

"Yeah…you can slow down ya know." She said pointing at my speed meter which read 75 mph. I snorted.

"You think this is fast? This is like grandma slow for me!" She bit her lip and froze up. "Oh my god fine!" I slowed to 60 mph. "Better?" She didn't do anything for a few seconds then said, "Yes." I sighed and she rolled her eyes.

"So…before we get there I need to be honest with you." She said. I glanced at her and nodded for her to start. "Ok well I am actually the princess of Samaria. Henry wasn't joking about that. That makes me part of the royal family." I slammed on the brakes and yelled, "WHAT?" She hushed me and held up her hands. "I'm not bad like my parents! Or like anyone else in my family. Just LISTEN to me." I took a calming breath and said, "Okay I'm listening." She said thank you and continued. "Like I was saying, I'm not like them. That's why I ran away. Henry and I had plans to make a break for it. I was staying with a friend."

She paused. "So?" I prompted. She smiled at me and said, "Henry isn't my brother by blood but he is like one. He would die for me as I would for him. My family wanted me to destroy my first family and I wouldn't do that to one of my people. For the longest time my whole family looked at me with disapproving eyes and it hurt so I ran away. Even though I made the right choice nobody else knows that so I get hunted. That's why I change my look every time and Henry doesn't. He doesn't SMELL like part of the royal family. I do. If I don't look the same it can distract people long enough for me to get away. I think."

"So that's why you feel menacing to me sometimes and your eyes change colors and get so hard and cold!" I came to the sudden realization.

She seemed a little irritated now and said, "Yes. I try and hide that stuff but it's more complicated than it looks." She frowned

We were pulling up to the park, same place and time as the other night. Demetra clutched the seat and said, "Do I have to get out?" I sighed and told her she did. "Oh!" I said. "These are the people you were born to kill right?"

"Yes actually."

"And…aren't they supposed to try and kill you?"

"Yes." She looked really scared now.

"Jamie won't let anything bad happen." I actually really doubted that but I was trying to be comforting. "Besides, you have your little spell do hicky thing right?"

"Not hardly. It takes a lot of strength and I need to save it up. I'm like a battery in this world, I need charged." We pulled up and an inhuman growl escaped her lips. I walked out and surveyed the area. Nobody was there so I waved her out. She didn't move. I ended up dragging her out of the car. She tried to pull herself back into the car but I yanked on her and she came free. "I don't want to!" She yelled.

"Then you can sit in a stupid tree and watch from a distance." I said out of breath dragging her across the grass.

"Can I really?" She stopped struggling to look at me

"Sure why not but eventually you're going to have to come down eventually. I promised my friend Rae, the red head, that I would show her why I was on edge. Now I know why but I still promised. Jamie is the one who is bringing the aceheard. She is the one with the brown curly hair." She let out a growl and said something like, "I'm sure I will like her the most."

"Actually you might…" when she shot me a glare I said "I'm not kidding! I love Rae to pieces but she always says what is on her mind and is upfront about everything. You would be surprised by the things she says. I still am. I'm sure you will get along with everyone but I'm just sayin'…" I shrugged

She found a tree nearby and perched herself in it. Only a few minutes later Rae came running down a hiking path and collapsed by me. She smiled.

"Hey!" She told me. She patted the ground beside her and I sat down. "Excited? What was it you were going to show me?"

"Later." I told her and she sighed a loud sigh impatiently

We had only gotten that far when, threw the trees opposite of Demetra, a group of inhumanly beautiful teenagers came in a v. In the front was a guy with brownish black hair and bright blue eyes that were clearly visible in the night. He flashed a smile at us and we saw that his teeth were shiny white. His right hand man was a guy with midnight black hair. I couldn't decide what color his eyes were but he was just as handsome as the first guy. The first guy's left hand man was someone with brown hair and brown eyes, like Jamie, who was behind the one with black hair. Behind the guy with the brown hair was a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. The one with brown hair kept looking back at her admiringly.

When they approached us Jamie came forward and said, "Hey guys! This here is Jake," she pointed at the one in the front with the black brown hair. Then she pointed at the one with the black hair and said, "This is Lee and this is Chris." She waved towards the one with the brown hair. "Finally this is Kate. She and Chris are dating." She pointed at the blonde girl.

"Hello." They all said.

"Wow guys this is so cool," Rae began, "hi I'm Rae and this here is-"

"I can introduce myself." I snapped at her "My name is Melissa." We all shook hands and Rae said, "Now can you show me what you _promised _you would?" I sighed

Before I had time to answer Jake said, "Do you smell that?" He sniffed the air

"Smells like…hey Jake we have smelt that before!" Chris said. Jake smiled a wicked grin

"Lee, Chris, watch my back." Chris and Lee smiled real big and said, "Got it boss!" It reminded me of when Henry called me boss. He looked to me as a friend; they looked to him as a leader. It sent a shiver up my spine. Wait, was it Demetra they were smelling? Oh no.

"Guys what do you smell?" I asked them

"A member of the Royal Family." Jake said half crazed. Jamie clapped her hands and Rae yelled, "Cool!" They started making their way towards to trees where Demetra was hiding. I had to save her, but they weren't listening to me…

**Demetra**

I could see them coming from the distance. The one in the lead was Jake, I remembered him, and I remembered Chris too. There was someone behind them though, a black haired guy. His hair was darker than the sky was during midnight. He made me curious. Who was he? This man who followed Jake around like a puppy. He looked so naïve! What was he doing here? Part of me wanted to run out and ask the questions I was dying to know. The sane part of me knew that if I did I could die though. What to do, what to do? Well, I could never save my country if I died so I was going to have to talk to Melissa later.

Silently I crept out of my tree. As silent as I tried to be, the aceheard and their mysterious friend had enhanced senses and they heard me move. They sped up at an incredible pace and I wasn't fast enough. Within seconds they had caught up to me and Jake had launched himself in the air, knocking me over and pinning me down. I struggled HARD to escape his grasp but he had centuries more experience than me and had me overpowered. I growled at him just to get an even more aggressive one back. I spat in his face and he got angry. He raised me from the ground and slammed me into the tree.

"Name!" He yelled at me. I didn't say anything. "Name!" He yelled even louder, crushing me to the tree, choking me.

"Princess Demetra Johnson." I growled at him

His eyes widened for a moment before narrowing severely and asked, "Why are you here?" I kicked him _hard_. Why should I answer? Even though my intentions were innocent he was _hurting _me and that was unacceptable.

For just one moment my kick had stunned him and I had time to run. I ran as fast as I could towards Melissa. Once I was with her I would be safe and she could help me. She was slower than I was and so even though I knew she wanted to help me she couldn't. Knowing Kate, even the slightest move to help and she would have Melissa in a tight grip. Melissa's friends wouldn't do anything because Kate would say she was keeping her safe. I knew the routine, I knew it by heart. This wasn't the only time I have had a scramble with the aceheard.

Behind me I heard Jake yell, "Lee you are the fastest go catch up to her!" This guy with the black hair, Lee, was advancing on me and I could hear it. I tried to run faster but instead of tackling me he ran past me and grabbed my arm. OW! Well…it was better than having my face smashed into the ground. I wrestled with him for my arm and I realized he wasn't struggling. He was just holding me back. I snarled at him and he let go. He didn't say anything, just…released. I looked at him, puzzled for a moment, and ran back to Melissa.

"YOU IDIOT WHY DID YOU LET HER GO? Come on get her!" Jake yelled, absolutely livid.

I wondered if I could beat them by air…I ran up a tree and launched myself over the branches. This was an advantage. It caught them off guard and I could jump faster than they could run. I could see Melissa now and just as I had thought, Kate was holding her back. Rae and Jamie sat there. Right again! They thought it was keeping her _safe. _I snorted. Now I was in the clearing with Kate. She kept her hold on Melissa and when I was almost 5 feet away I rolled across the ground, grabbed Melissa's feet, yanking her up and Kate down. I had my arms linked through hers and it looked as if I could rip her arms off with one move. That was exactly the position I wanted. It would scare them. Right as Kate got up and had her balance again Jake, Chris and Lee came into view. They all got in a line and stopped. Lee shook his head at me but I just ignored him. These people didn't deserve my attention.

"Let her go!" Rae yelled, running at me. Jake ran forward and grabbed her arm at the same time Jamie yelled, "Release her you hooligan!" I laughed. Hooligan? That was a stupid word! My bell chime laugh triggered something in the line of people. Jake handed Rae to Lee and Chris grabbed Jamie. They both struggled to help Melissa but did they notice that she hadn't tried to escape me once? Jake and Kate ran forward at me. I threw Melissa in the air and she started screaming, probably because she had never been that high in the air before. Kate turned around to catch her. Jake turned to yell commands at the other two. I ran towards the car.

While Melissa had been in my arms I took the keys to the Truck. I ran to it and jumped in. I drove over the curb into the clearing and unbelievably, hit Jake with her car. He suffered no permanent damage though. I kicked Kate in the stomach, taking Melissa from her and throwing her in the shot gun of the Truck. I punched Chris in the stomach, taking Jamie and then swimming my foot around, tripping Lee and grabbing Rae. I knocked the breath out of all of them and threw the two in the back of the truck. Not the bed, but the seats behind the driver and passenger seats. Jamie and Rae started screaming. I just rolled my eyes. I put the keys in the ignition and stepped on it!


	5. Chapter 5

**Demetra **

"Melissa what the _hell_ is going on?" Rae shouted

"YOU HIT JAKE WITH THE TRUCK!"Jamie accused me

"Yes…yes I did." I said with satisfaction. I smiled to myself.

"What if…what if he DIED or something?" She yelled wide eyed

"Sadly, he can't die. I'm out of luck for that part." I frowned then continued. "The most damage that could be done is like…being sore and really mad, hardly dead." Someone cut me off. Looking in their rear view mirror I could see that Jake had a car. Oh so he is a thief too? That's nice. Dang it! He had a new mustang and I just had Melissa's truck. He can go faster but this thing was stronger and more bullet proof. "See? There he is now!" I said, smiling at Jamie

"Oh. My. God! If he hits my truck than I WILL find a way to kill him!" Melissa yelled, smacking her dash board. I looked at her and rolled my eyes.

"Chill out Melissa he isn't going to hit your-" he slammed into the truck bed. Well…maybe Melissa could kill him for me.

"Oh now you're gonna pay!"She yelled. She unbuckled her seatbelt and flung the door open. I didn't want her to die jumping out of the car so I slammed on the brake. I could feel Jamie smack her head on the back of my seat and Rae's head hitting the window. "OW!" They yelled in unison. I didn't say sorry because I wasn't. I just said, "Oops!" I glanced out the window and saw Melissa banging on the window of the stolen car, which now had a totaled hood. I laughed quietly in my bell chime voice.

"Hey! You hit my truck!" Melissa was yelling.

"Oh my god…" I muttered.

"Do you want to DIE little girl?" Jake asked

"Not really do you? Hit my truck again and you're going to!" Melissa screeched at him

"Not likely." He laughed

"Want to bet?" She threatened. He laughed again. She took off one boot and smacked the heel against the window. It cracked down the middle. She hit it again and a piece chipped off. One more time and…it was shattered. He yelled, "This isn't my car!" He yelled. Melissa reached through the window and grabbed his throat. He made a gagging noise and said, "Okay!" She released and made the sign of, I'm watching you! He scrunched up his face and leaned over to Chris whispering, "Ouch!" Melissa smiled and I laughed. She walked over and surveyed the truck. She turned and glared at Jake, "Do you see this?" She yelled, "YOU DENTED MY TRUCK!" She motioned at something I couldn't see. He got out of the stolen, now vandalized car and came over to the dent. He put his hand under the car and pressed on the dent site. I could hear it pop out of its position and it wasn't dented anymore. Great now she wouldn't kill him…just what I needed.

"Better?" He asked her

"Only a little." She spat at him. He rolled his eyes

I rolled down the window, "Melissa let's get this show on the road!" I yelled to her.

"Only if I drive!" She yelled back

I got out and went to walk around the side of the car. Jake was there in a flash, knocking me down, pinning me to the road. I growled at him and kicked my foot up, smacking him right in the back of the head. He snarled at me. "Chris come help me with this!" He yelled. Chris was holding my feet and Jake was holding my head. They started walking to his car when Melissa yelled, "HEY PUT HER DOWN!" They ignored her and kept walking. She ran over and smacked her boot heel on Chris's head, surprising him and he dropped my feet. She kicked her foot up and kicked Jake in the back. I swung my feet around as he fell, making him spin to the ground. She got in the driver's seat. I got into the passenger seat and we started driving.

"Explain now." Rae told Melissa. Melissa sighed.

"Woops don't get your panties in a bunch!" I offered.

"Shut up!" Rae yelled back. I rolled my eyes and said, "Careful, I bite!" I snapped my mouth shut fast and it made a clanking noise. Jamie jumped back and looked at me with wide eyes. "You HIT Jake with the TRUCK?" She whispered. When would she understand? It was very annoying so I talked to her like she had an issue, "Yes. I. Hit. Your. Precious. Jake. With. Melissa's. Truck." I stared at her. Her mouth dropped and I nodded saying, "Yes." She slumped back in her seat and I laughed quietly. Rae heard me and shot a glare in my direction.

"SHUT UP!" Melissa yelled. I shot my head around to look at her. She was driving like a maniac and her hands were gripping the seat so tight her knuckles were white. If we were in a cartoon, smoke would be coming out of her ears. I leaned over to whisper, "You okay?" But I didn't get that far. When I had only leaned half way towards her I felt a pain in my ear. I shot my hand up to my ear and whispered, "Ouch!" Feeling around I discovered a very fine wooden needle right under my ear. Rae started whistling so I glared at her.

"What was that!" I yelled at her

She looked at me and her eyes got wide, "Why I don't know what you mean? Jamie did you see anything?" Jamie shook her head in a no answer vigorously. I rolled my eyes. She shrugged and smiled, looking away. Why would she smile it was no bigger than a toothpick? It didn't really even hurt anymore…much. I looked out the front window. Everything was swaying…

"Whoa Melissy slooooooow down" It looked like the road had a whole bunch of curves in it. I leaned with them and started giggling. Behind me I heard Rae laughing and Jamie snorting out of her nose. I turned back and smiled. Oh god was my mouth seriously wide open? I closed it. Whoa it made a chomping noise! I started chomping my mouth. Melissa looked at me and raised her eyebrows. She looked back at the road just to look again a few seconds later. She turned around to look at them and I was worried we would crash so I grabbed the wheel. We started to swerve even more and get off the road! Cool!

"Oh my god no! Give that back!" She smacked my hand away from the wheel and I grabbed it back. I said, "Mine!" and glared at her. Things started to not only get swervy but I was starting to black out. "Hello!" I said. I laughed but got freaked out and started to squirm in my chair. I said, "Goodbye!"and allowed the darkness to swallow me.

**Melissa**

What was wrong with her? I looked over to see her eyes closed and all slumped in her seat. I slammed on the brakes. "Did you kill her?" I closed my eyes and braced myself. Rae laughed and said, "No but I can if you want?" She wiggled her eyebrows, letting the offer stand. I waved my hand at her. She sighed and slouched in her seat. I looked at Jamie, "What was that?" She shrugged. Rae interrupted, "It was this thing I call tree juice. I don't know what it's really called but that's what I call it. It knocks you out for about…oh…two hours?" Oh god, two hours? I could see Jake and his group approaching fast from the rear view mirror. What to do, what to do? My mouth dropped, "Why did you do that?" This was just what I needed. I starting driving really fast, hopefully we wouldn't get in a wreck and fall off the road or something…

"She wouldn't shut up and she was talking over me. Plus you never answered my question." She glared at me and raised an eyebrow.

I sighed. "No I heard you but I had other things on my mind." I motioned to Jakes stolen car following us. "I'm going to run out of gas. I can't exactly hand her over to them and if I stop then that's what will happen." I turned and pointed to Jamie, "You will pay for the gas. It's your fault your psychotic super human people are chasing us."

"My fault? Why?" She raised her voice in genuine surprise

"Because they are out of control that's why! Did you even tell them not to do anything rash?" I shook my head. Jamie, I love her but she can be a bubble head at times.

She dropped her head. "No I didn't but if I had known you were bringing it-" She motioned towards Demetra but I cut her off

"She is not an it she is a person who is misunderstood. Do you want to know why I have her with me?" I looked at Rae. She nodded. "Yes she is one of the royal family. Yes she is destined to be a killer and yes those are her prey. She chose good over evil and surrendered. Her family wasn't happy with her choice so she met up with her friend Henry, yes there are two, and they made a brake for it. They needed help and I, as the creator of their land sensed it. I traveled there in a dream and accidently brought them back with me so for the time being that is the way it is." Rae looked irritated and Jamie seemed shocked. "Deal with it." I said and glanced at my gas meter. Almost empty, of course! How convenient…

"Well she is part of the royal family, even if she does surrender than she will always have the desire to kill and that just can't be tolerated Melissa." Jamie tilted her head with apologetic eyes as she spoke. I just looked at them blankly. Rae sighed.

She spoke up, "She has a point. If she even poses the slightest danger than we have to be rid of her. We can't risk getting killed for some friendship of yours." I saw some ground gained and had one fine point.

I raised one of my eyebrows. "Oh so I can't have Demetra around but you can have like four psycho people chasing us to get the one thing that they know of that _seems _dangerous, well look at them! They have super human speed and strength but what if one of them gets tempted or angry or wants revenge, then what? They turn out worse than her." I accused Jamie and looked to Rae every now and then. So I couldn't have my guys but they could have theirs? Nice…real nice. Jamie opend her mouth to protest but I cut her off, "It is exactly the same Jamie. You have super people and so do I, each having different motives but is either better than the other?"

"When you make it sound like that it makes us sound like jerks." Rae muttered and I laughed harshly.

"It's the same way ANY way you put it Rae! There. Is. No. Difference." I turned and looked her in the eyes. She turned away.

"This isn't a matter of discussion Melissa." Jamie said cooly

"You're right, it's not." I said and she sighed but I continued. "We all have our own free will so this is mine. If I die it was a decision on my part, not anything to do with you so you just need to suck it up. It is not your choice it's completely mine. I know what I'm doing." I pushed my eyebrows together and shook my head. "If you see a gas station then tell me. I'm almost out." We drove in silence for a few minutes before finding a gas station but I wanted to drive on by. It was a small place and the outside was all beat up. The parking lot only had two cars and there was only one gas tank. It was the old kind and those made me nervous. Even worse? You had to go inside to pay. The building looked like it was falling apart and there was a wrinkled old lady behind the counter. Her beady eyes snapped to me. I really wished Demetra was up.

"What do you want?" She asked in a snappy tone

"Uh, gas? I need a full tank on number…one." There was only one tank and what would someone like me be doing in a store like this if not for gas? I heard movement behind me. Probably the other person here, then I felt eyes on my back. I turned around and saw Henry standing there acting like he was surveying the bags of expired chips. He warned me not to talk with his eyes. Really? He left the house and must have followed me. Honestly I couldn't be mad at him in this situation. There was someone to have my back, but why did I feel I needed it protected?

She nodded and took my money. "It's ready." She held out her hand for us to shake it. Suddenly a ghost popped up beside her. She was a young woman and beautiful, just like me. Why was she dead? This was getting weirder and weirder…

"Don't shake it!" She warned. I tilted my head the slightest bit. _Why? _"She is not what she appears. Run!" She became frantic

"No thank you I'm rather health conscious." I apologized to the lady. She continued to hold out her hand. That was a bad lie, if I was health conscious than why would I be in here? I was so busted. "Miss really I must be going I'm late for a very important meeting." I started backing off.

She growled a, "No." and reached out to me. She grabbed my arm.

"Melissa!" Henry yelled, he launched himself in the air and tackled me, breaking her grip. In no time at all the building exploded. Henry threw me out the door just in time, barely getting himself out too. He pinned me down on the cement. "Are you okay?" He asked. His forehead was creased with worry. I nodded, completely shocked. I glanced at the shop, there was no building, only fire. Where did it go? It wouldn't have burnt this quick…

He pulled me to my feet and wrapped me in a tight embrace. I heard a car door slam and here came Rae running out yelling, "Get your hands off her!" He let go and held up his hands. He laughed and said, "Who are you?" She narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?" They had a glare down, well half of one. Henry was smiling, obviously amused, while Rae had her eyes narrowed like a cat.

"We don't have time!" I pushed them both to the car. "Hurry up! Guys, there was a ghost in there, a young woman. Before the explosion she told me to run and she wasn't what she seemed. We have to hurry up and leave because I don't know where she is and I doubt you do either. She isn't dead, I know that much." Just then Jake and his group came swerving into the parking lot. They got out of the car. Lee looked towards my truck and ran over to the passenger window. "Is she okay?" He tried to open the door. Locked. He slumped against the side and Kate shot him a horrified expression while Chris put his head in his hands. "Oh my." They said in unison and Kate sighed.

"What's going on?" Jake asked, surprisingly calm

"The building blew up, I got Melissa out in time but there was this weird old lady in there who was just SO weird. I guess this ghost told Melissa to run because she wasn't what she seemed or something, right?" Henry said, looking at me towards the end. I nodded. It was hard to see everyone it was so dark, the fire lit everything up though so that made it easy for me. The others hardly noticed though with their enhanced abilities. I'm sure Rae appreciated it too though the circumstances were unnerving. "Thank god I followed you." Henry said.

"How long were you following?" I asked him startled, how come the aceheard smelt Demetra not him?

"I was watching from across the street. I didn't follow you to the park. I could smell _them _and decided to steer clear. It took every muscle in my body to not run out there when I heard her being chased around like a rabbit with a fox." He shook his head and looked at Jake. He pointed at him with one finger. "What were you thinking? Do you know who she is?"

"Wrong question, do you know who I am?" Jake asked. Henry had made him mad. "I certainly don't know who you are but from the looks of it your one of the bad guys." He looked at him and shook his head with his mouth in a straight line. He made a reach for Henry's arm but Henry was faster at the moment and swatted it away.

"Don't bother. You don't know who I am but I know who you are. You are the one trying to destroy my sister." Henry narrowed his eyes and stepped one step closer to Jake, fists clenched.

Lee looked up, "This is your sister?" He asked amazed. "You look nothing alike. She is so small and fragile looking. Then look at you-" He trailed off and raised an eyebrow. "You don't look alike is the point." Henry rolled his eyes and snorted.

"We need to leave." I demanded. Rae shot Henry a dirty look and he got into the back of the truck, in the middle between Rae and Jamie of all places. He smiled and said, "Hey, how's it going?" Jamie sat there looking confused and Rae looked out the window. I got into the driver's seat again and trusted Jake and them to get in their own. Lee was still leaning on the car against Demetra's door. I drove anyways and watched him fall to the ground. Jamie laughed for a second then said, "Hey!" I just ignored her.

"Who is he?" Rae asked

"Her secret lover…" He wiggled his eyebrows and I turned around to smack him.

"My secret pest more like it…" Man I was annoyed even more now!

"Hey watch it missy I just saved your life from an annoying bat lady!" He widened his eyes

"Who. Is. He." Rae said irritated. She wasn't asking she was demanding now. When Rae demanded something and you didn't give it to her she got mad. Mad plus Rae equals disaster.

"I am Demetra's brother. My name is Henry. I'm kind of like a personal body guard you could say but looks like I was a little too late." He motioned towards Demetra. "Does anyone have a pen? I want to draw on her face." He smiled a little bit. Rae held one out to him but I reached back and took it. I said no harshly. After that Henry and Rae got along a little bit better. They had one thing in common, annoyance with Demetra. Jamie sat in silence. Personally I didn't know what to do, I decided on reaching back and patting her hand.

I drove us to this abandoned building that we had been using as a clubhouse. It wasn't exactly abandoned, but the hours of operation were ten am to six pm but that was just the first three floors. The fourth floor, which we used the emergency stairs to get to, had the emergency doors closed. We didn't know why but we could go there any time of day and nobody knew. The window's had blinds on there so we could have the lights on at night and people couldn't see. The top floor was smaller than all the others; it had one main hallway connecting five main rooms. We transformed three into bedrooms for us, one kitchen/dining room area and a living room area. We were all rich so we could afford to furnish it. The emergency doors release hatch was on our side so nobody could use that and the stairs we used looked rusted, plus we locked the window. That was where we stayed but our journey of new life continued in the morning. It had just begun.


	6. Chapter 6

**Demetra **

I stretched and opened my eyes. There was a faint smell of something sweet in the background but that's not where my thoughts were. Where was I? Laying there I decided not to move until I was sure. I turned my head and saw a messed up bed. What happened last night? Let's see; Jake and his friends attacked me, Melissa started driving insanely fast, her friends freaked out and then the red head, Rae shot me with something that made me loopy. What a nice evening right? I sighed to myself, I was so exhausted!

I pulled the covers off. Gross, I was still in my clothes from yesterday! There was a dresser across the room so I walked over to it. A little box was resting on it. I grabbed a headband, pink of course. Experimenting with the different drawers I found some with some short pink pajama bottoms with white dots and a white tank top. There was a closet that looked more like an indention in the wall so I walked over to that too. There were shoes and slippers of all kinds. I grabbed a pink pair of slippers. Now I had a complete outfit _without _mud and dirt on it. There was a mirror hanging on the wall so I went to that next. My hair was a tangled mess. That wouldn't do. I scanned the room and saw a brush on the dresser, brushing my hair proved to be a challenge but I got it done. Now I was complete. One last glance at the beautiful girl in the mirror showed me that my eyes were currently green, which was to be expected because I was grouchy. My hair was totally blonde, a light shade too. My skin wasn't as tan but it was just the perfect amount for light hair.

I opened the door and looked down the hallway. There were a few doors on both sides of the hall but I went to the one with the most noise. A big room was at the end of the hall and I walked to that one. Jamie and Rae were sitting at a small table, raising their eyebrows and exchanging a shocked glance. Melissa wasn't in here but Henry was sprawled out on a couch in the far corner of the room across from a TV. The room was big and had tinted windows on the three walls exposed to the outside world. I sat in the recliner next to the couch and flipped on the TV, making Henry stir in his sleep. A buzzing noise of air being parted by something made me turn my head and I saw one of those pointy stick things whizzing towards me. I grabbed the slipper and held the heel out to block it. It went halfway through the shoe before coming to a stop. Yesterday I wasn't prepared, but today I was. These people were proving to be a pain but I brushed it off. I pulled it out of the show and tossed it behind me to them.

"Missing something?" I asked, widening my eyes in mock surprise

"Who are you?" The brown haired one, Jamie, asked me. Rae raised an eyebrow and glared. I furrowed my eyebrows, not knowing what she meant. Absentmindedly I swiped a strand of blonde hair from my eyes. _Blonde hair…blonde…brown…brunette! _That must be it, they only know me as a brunette with blue eyes not a blonde with green eyes.

I smirked and said, "Take a guess." As if on cue Henry woke up, turned around and smiled. He looked exactly the same, probably because I can change my look with only a simple thought but it has to be forced for other people.

"Demetra." Rae said. She knew it was me all along. It wasn't a guess it was an accusation.

"Ding ding ding!" I said with a smile. Then I pretended to look amazed. "How did you know?" I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow.

Rae ignored me, which trust me, I didn't mind at all. Jamie was looking at me like I was some kind of science project. "That's weird!" She kept studying me and I shifted uncomfortably.

"Can I help you with something?" I shook my head at her.

"Well my guys-" I laughed, interrupting her, "my guys don't change their look. Kate doesn't either. How did you do that?"

"Like this!" I closed my eyes and willed my hair and eyes to turn midnight black. She jumped backwards into Rae. "I'm sorry did I scare you?" I acted like I was genuinely sorry, though I really wasn't. I was getting a kick out of this. "Is this better?" This time I willed my eyes to turn violet and my hair to turn neon pink. She smiled and stepped forward to touch a strand. While her fingers ran through my hair I changed it back to the black and she jumped again. After I did this for a while it wore me out. Finally I went back to the blonde hair and green eyes. "Simple." I shrugged.

"Can you do it to others too?" She questioned.

"I can only do it to other Glysphans. I couldn't do it to humans or _your guys." _I exaggerated on the last part and nodded for Henry to come over to me. He came walking over and I put my hand on his shoulder, willing his hair to turn a light shade of purple. The corner of Rae's mouth turned up, she was fighting a smile but Jamie let it out. Henry seemed stumped as to what I did so he went running to the window to see his reflection in the dark glass.

"DEMETRA!" He yelled. Obvious anger spread on his face and he said, "Change it back before I…" He trailed off. I sighed and changed it back to its regular shade of brown. He turned and glared at me, which seemed to me my accustomed look. Really I didn't care; there were far worse things I had endured than a dirty look.

"Before you what?" I snapped. He turned away and I knew I had won. Typical Henry, he didn't want to fight but when he did he was nasty. Lucky for me, I'm a good debater. "Whatever." I sighed and turned to go sit on the couch. There was the sound of footsteps on metal and I turned to the window with the fire escape and sniffed the air. Melissa was back, great in the morning haze I completely forgot about her. She had something with her, sweet smelling food. I smiled at her and wondered how fast she would learn about the passing events…

**Melissa **

When I entered the room got really quiet and everyone looked my direction. Demetra looked like she had found my clothes but that was fine with me. I didn't want her tracking mud into our…semi-home. Henry was sprawled out on the couch and seemed very comfortable. Rae had a glint in her eye that I knew very well, frustration while Jamie seemed relaxed. Jamie was always relaxed, well, except for yesterday. She didn't handle conflict well. When it came down to it she could fight and hold an argument, but it came naturally to Rae. Oh my friends…sometimes I couldn't stand them but that's just what made us so close. It looked like we would be a lot closer now that everything was out in the open. Personally, I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing but I offered a smile to everyone in the room.

"What is that?" Demetra asked me, sniffing the air

"French toast stupid." Of course that was Rae. "It's a delicious loaf of bread dipped in cinnamon and eggs with syrup on top!" She dropped her mouth open, feigning total excitement. Demetra glared and looked back at me.

"Smells good, can I have some?" She eyed the box.

"No you can't it's all for me." I rolled my eyes and said, "Yes I got enough for everyone." She looked annoyed with me but I ignored her. "Hey Henry?" I waved him over and he came to me.

"Yeah?" I stifled a laugh, he was groggy and acted like he had just woken up

"Thank you." I told him genuinely. "You didn't listen but if you hadn't then I would have died." Rae looked at him with a straight face but I saw Jamie mouth a, "Thank you."

"It's fine, but if you haven't noticed I don't take orders very well." He winked at me. "I prefer to be in on the action not at home with some annoying poltergeist. That guy really needs to learn some manners to his guests." He shook his head looking off into the distance at something I couldn't see.

"So? Are we going to eat or sit here talking?" Rae was not a patient person. I heard her stomach growl very audibly so I laughed and passed her the box. She said, "Thank you Miss!" and walked to the cabinets to get some plates. She only got three and I glared at her and went over there myself to get two more. She was going to take some work but time would make her more open to them.

As we ate Jamie's phone rang and she ran into her room to take the call. I saw Demetra slowly walk to the hall and put her ear to the door but I walked over and grabbed her hair, yanking her back to the table with her saying, "Ouch, ow, ow not the hair!" She turned around and pulled it from my grasp saying, "That hurts don't do that!" Henry laughed under his breath and she growled something that didn't sound like one of those human growls, it sounded like something coming from an animal. He turned his head and smiled. Nice to know that someone finds her attitude amusing, I thought to myself. About five minutes later Jamie came out of her room looking guilty and I knew that something was up. I sent Henry and Demetra to my room and looked at her.

"What's up?" I folded my arms around myself and gave her a piercing look.

"Well that was Jake, he said he had something to say and he is bringing everyone over to talk." She blushed

"Did Mister fancy pants ask if it was okay?" Rae shook her head at Jamie.

"Sort of! He said, 'Is it alright if I bring everyone over, we need to talk.' And I told him I didn't think it would be a problem but I'm so sorry I completely forgot that they were here!" She motioned to my room.

Rae said, "You know what? It's fine. If Henry and Demetra don't want to be around them they can leave, like cowards."

"Rae they would hardly be cowards considering they attacked Demetra for no apparent reason yesterday then practically framed Henry for being associated with her. It would be them being annoyed and not wanting to deal with them and if that's what they choose you can hardly blame them." Jamie nodded while Rae ignored me

Demetra came out looking like a cat, the narrowed eyes, the mean look on the face and the same confident walk. Henry just went back to the couch. "You realize we have enhanced senses that allow us to hear more advanced than the normal human being, don't you? We heard the whole conversation." I smacked my hand to my head, I had completely forgotten.

"Good then we don't have to repeat everything." Rae said with a sweet smile but everyone noticed the falseness behind it.

"We aren't leaving." Henry said, "We were raised not to run from our problems so we will stay here and be civil, wont we Demetra?" She ignored him and he said, "Wont we?" even louder.

"Sure." She snapped. Right then the window opened and here came Jake, Lee, Kate and Chris. Didn't Mr. Wilson say something about a Drew? I would have to ask about that later. The room was suddenly colder and I wondered if Demetra had something to do with it, she had a smirk on her face so my question was answered. I looked at her and shook my head no. She looked at me for a minute and, reluctantly, made the room go back to its regular temperature. She was spinning her index finger in a circle and I saw a little ball of light looking like…a hem…the thing she shot me with, but much smaller. It was changing colors between blue, green, pink, purple and the brightest of them all, red.

Jake looked at her for a moment before saying, "Demetra." He nodded.

"How did you know it was me?" Demetra asked with a tilt of the head. She rolled her eyes and looked back at the ball of light.

"I really hope you aren't planning on shooting anyone with that like you did with me." I told her.

"Not _planning _just playing. It's a defense spell at the ready but to me it's just fun to make and pretty to look at." She was staring at it and had a faint smile showing.

"I'm watching you." I told her with a glare.

"You don't need to but okay that's fine." She said, still watching the ball.

They took a seat on the couch which made Henry leap up and go to the Kitchen and grab two stools, one for him and one for his sister. I sat in the recliner, Jamie and Rae sat in the leftover places on the couch. That guy…Lee was his name I think, was watching Demetra but when she noticed she changed the ball of lights colors to red and black, looking at him again to see if he noticed the sudden aggression. He noticed the color change but looked like he ignored the attitude. Henry looked back and forth between them and sniffed the air; I heard a faint growl come out of his lips so I tugged on his arm.

"What?" I asked him

"I will tell you later." He said, never looking at me but staring at Lee.

"Hey." Rae and Jamie said at the same time, only to break out in a fit of giggles.

"Hello." Jake said in a clipped tone. Kate looked at Demetra then at Chris nervously. He put his hand on her arm and gave her a reassuring look. She smiled at him and relaxed.

"What's your business here?" Henry asked them

"We picked up a scent. One…that could mean harm." Jake said seriously

"Oh I'm sorry that must have been me, just like last time, and the time before that, and before that. How long must I continue?" Demetra said with a bubble of hostility. _Henry_ and Lee smiled, from Henry I would expect that, but Lee? That was weird. Jake growled at her to receive a glare from both boys. Even weirder.

"No someone who means more than _you". _Jake said impatient. Demetra rolled her eyes.

"Oh what a relief, not that you have ever caught me." She teased.

He frowned. "Let's drop that subject matter. We have caught the scent of one of the old ones, one of the very first people to be not fully human and walk the planet. We believe that he is a danger and only here for a reason. We aren't fully sure what that reason is, but whatever it may be I assume it is not good."

Henry smiled, "Dude why do you talk like that?"

Jake tensed up, only letting loose a fit of laughter from Demetra. "This is just how I choose to talk, instead of using all the…slang from the misfits of the time."

Demetra laughed her bell chime laugh even harder, "Okay, okay. Thy shall not laugh." She mocked. He stood up and yelled, "Quiet!" I head Demetra laugh and slam her hand over her mouth but she had to lean on Henry and he was leaning on her. Support for the giggles I guess.

"We believe it to be the one called Willy." He shifted his weight.

Demetra broke out laughing again, "Willy? What kind of name is that?" Henry smiled and shook his head.

"Laugh all you want but he is serious business. This man is not one you want to mess with and if you do, well let's just so nobody has been there to say what happens, if you are getting what I mean." Jake was serious and he was scaring me.

"What are you saying?" I asked him cautiously.

"I'm saying that he has been in hiding for millions of years and for him to just appear when you and I," He motioned at the Aceheard then at my Glysphans, "then it means something is about to occur."

Chris looked up and spoke, "He is on our lands, and it means war."

"War? You mean like…we are going to have a battle?" Jamie asked, eyes widening

Jake nodded gravely. "There are others in the area. We are patrolling the surrounding states and more deaths are occurring. There are children going missing and within just a few months time we need to be ready." Lance Cooper came into my mind. What side was he fighting for? Was he one of us or one of them, the bad guys?

"They are forming an Army." Lee said, looking up.

"If we don't start to prepare for what is coming we will die." Chris said reluctantly.

"I say bring it on." Rae said standing up. That's my girl, I thought.

"Is there nothing we can do to stop it though?" Jamie looked at each face, looking for some alternative but finding nothing.

"We could try to talk things through with them, but they aren't looking for excuses they are looking for death. Just one hesitant pause from us and we are a lost cause, nothing more than dust to them. They will walk over our dead bodies and march one like nothing ever happened."

"Then we have to train." Rae said.

"Well that's obvious but I'm sorry to say that we can't stay here in this town if you want your family to live." Jake said, looking down at his hands. "The dark forces will do anything to get you to surrender and family is your biggest disadvantage." I thought of Nikky, who had the same abilities as me but could be at risk.

"Do we get an army then?" I asked, hoping for an answer other than the one I already knew.

He looked confident enough, "Yes but with the proper training I sense that we can win."

I raised my eyebrows, "Us? Just some small town girls from Kansas and you think we can defeat ancient dark forces? Yeah okay." I scoffed.

"I'm being serious!" Jake defended himself. He smelt the air. "Okay I smell lots of different people with lots of different powers in here so please state yours."

"Visions that come and go, affinity with wind and enhanced senses, meaning I can also read emotions." Rae spoke up confidently.

Jake raised his eyebrow, "That's it?" He looked at her incredulously.

"Yeah well sorry that I don't pick what I can do!" She raised her voice

"No that's not what I mean." Jake shook his head. "You smell different, who is your father?"

Oh no, not the father card. I looked at Rae to see her eyes watering. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and hardened up, "I don't know. He left when I was a baby, why?"

"Who is your mother?"

"Taylor Venstone, you never answered by question, why?" Rae asked, now suspicious.

"Because you don't smell human." Jake shook his head.

"Um, okay?" Rae said.

"Go call your mom and ask for the name of your birth father." Jake commanded.

"Sure, why not?" Rae rolled her eyes and went in her room to call her mom. The room got all tense and a few minutes later she said, "My mom said that his name was Drew. Does it matter?" Jake's eyes widened and Kate gasped. Chris whispered, "Oh my god…" Rae and I exchanged a curious glance.

"Rae…" Jake trailed off

"What? What is the deal and why does it matter who my father is?" Rae said with a shake of her head.

"Your father?" Chris said in a daze

"Rae…your father is my brother." Jake looked at her with shocked eyes.

"So…that means you're like…my uncle. I can't be related to you. Yeah right. Whatever." Rae laughed, but she could sense that there was no humor in the air and immediately stopped, looking Jake square in the eye. "Where is he?"

"I don't know." Jake said, avoiding her eyes.

"Really? He caused my mother to raise me alone, she struggled and it was all because he wasn't around." She gave him the death stare, which was serious. I knew that look and it was when she was looking right through you, searching for the truth. When she saw he wasn't joking around she looked into his eyes, forcing him to look at her. "Where. Is. He?"

"Nobody knows where he is. The last recorded time of seeing him would have been evidence of you, meaning he was here, how many years ago? Seventeen?" Jake tilted his head.

"Don't suck up to me, I'm sixteen and you know it." She glared at him. "So you're saying that I'm the first trace of him in a long time?"

Jake stood up and placed his hand on the window to steady himself, obviously still in shock. "Well yeah, this means that you are part Aceheard, you're one of us." He looked at her in awe. Rae shifted under the tension and looked at him.

"I'm not like you." She growled

"Yes you are." He persisted.

Rae put her head in her hands and sighed, "You know it's really hard to believe that after all these years my father is some magical being who people have been searching for and have found no trace of him."

The ball of light in Demetra's hands disappeared and she snapped her eyes to Jake, "Great more of you." She pressed her mouth together in a hard line, looking up at him.

Jake glared at her and said, "The next subject at hand." He looked at me.

"I see ghosts and I have an affinity with the night." I shrugged my shoulders. That was hardly special compared to being fifty percent Aceheard! That explained the way Rae acted; headstrong, confident, and very smart.

Jake looked at me with a disgusted look. "Why do you smell like _her?" _He asked, nodding towards Demetra.

I thought of the things everyone had said, _You may not believe now, but someday you will, _Henry had said. _Every two hundred years you return to help Samaria, this amazing place you created about three lives ago. _That was something else I had been told. _So I'm the 'creator'_ I still didn't believe it and I settled for, "Um, I don't know." I lied, looking him in the eyes.

Henry respected my reluctance to say anything so he settled for looking at me with eyes like daggers.

"It's probably because I'm around her so much." I nodded in disbelief and I wasn't sure that he bought it but it would have to do for now.

Jake raised his eyebrows and said, "Fine I will figure it out on my own." He looked at Jamie and smiled. "The creator. We all know that." It surprised me to feel a wave of jealousy at her getting credit as creator, I was creator. Or at least, Henry and Demetra said I was. When I came to terms with accepting it then I would tell them but for now I would smile and act like I was amazed and believed it. Honestly I didn't but that would have to stay on the down low if I wanted to keep my friends close. A new day and something new to accept. Hopefully I could get it figured out soon because from the sounds of it? I didn't have that long.


End file.
